Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 review: more of a good thing

    July 30, 2025

    Mark Zuckerberg promises you can trust him with superintelligent AI

    July 30, 2025

    TikTok videos are about to get crowdsourced fact checks on them

    July 30, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » How Apple Created a Custom iPhone Camera for ‘F1’
    Gear

    How Apple Created a Custom iPhone Camera for ‘F1’

    News RoomBy News RoomJune 17, 20253 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    You can’t mount a cinema camera on a Formula One race car. These nimble vehicles are built to precise specs, and capturing racing footage from the driver’s point of view isn’t as simple as slapping a GoPro on and calling it a day. That’s the challenge Apple faced after Joseph Kosinski and Claudio Miranda, the director and cinematographer of the upcoming F1 Apple Original, wanted to use real POV racing footage in the film.

    If you’ve watched a Formula One race lately, you’ve probably seen clips that show an angle from just behind the cockpit, with the top or side of the driver’s helmet in the frame. Captured by onboard cameras embedded in the car, the resulting footage is designed for broadcast, at a lower resolution using specific color spaces and codecs. Converting it to match the look of the rest of the F1 film would be too challenging to be feasible. Instead, Apple’s engineering team replaced the broadcast module with a camera composed of iPhone parts.

    Custom Camera

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    Image may contain Alloy Wheel Car Car Wheel Machine Spoke Tire Transportation Vehicle Wheel Logo and Coupe

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    The module looks nothing like an iPhone. It intentionally resembles the broadcast camera module, and Apple even had to match the weight so that its version wouldn’t alter a car’s specs. The inside, however, is completely different. (Apple gave us a peek during WWDC last week alongside an F1 car.)

    At the heart is an iPhone camera sensor powered by an A-series chip. Apple didn’t specify the exact sensor or chipset, but these were used for a few cars in real F1 races throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons, so there’s a chance it was the same A17 Pro and 48-megapixel primary camera in the iPhone 15 Pro. It also contained an iPhone battery and a neutral density filter over the camera to reduce the light entering the lens, giving film editors more control over exposure.

    No one expects an iPhone camera to perform flawlessly at incredible speeds or extreme conditions, so the engineering team had to consider this factor. They tested the camera module to ensure it could endure extreme shock, vibrations, and heat—it supposedly surpassed the specs provided by Formula One.

    How Apple Created a Custom iPhone Camera for ‘F1

    Julian Chokkattu

    The module ran iOS but had a custom firmware for the camera. The videos were captured in log format with Apple’s ProRes lossless video codec, delivering footage that looks flat but gives the editors much more granular control to color grade and match the visuals with the rest of the film. This custom firmware inevitably led to two new features in the iPhone 15 Pro: log encoding and support for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) color workflow.

    Since there are no radios in the module, a custom iPad app was the only way the filmmakers could make on-the-fly changes to the camera. Once connected via USB-C, they could adjust things like frame rate, exposure gain, shutter angle, and white balance. This is also where they’d hit record to start or stop recording. The footage captured with the module is sprinkled throughout the F1 film.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleHow Covid-19 Changed Hideo Kojima’s Vision for ‘Death Stranding 2’
    Next Article The Definitive Story of Tesla Takedown

    Related Posts

    The Nvidia RTX 5060 Can’t Quite Beat AMD

    July 30, 2025

    Top Verizon Promo Codes and Deals for August 2025

    July 30, 2025

    I Slept on Wolf’s Memory Foam Hybrid Premium Firm Mattress for a Week and Was Impressed

    July 29, 2025

    I Lived With Alexa+ for a Week. Here’s How It Went

    July 29, 2025

    Nothing’s Headphone (1) Is Something Impressive

    July 29, 2025

    Seriously, Why Do Some AI Chatbot Subscriptions Cost More Than $200?

    July 29, 2025
    Our Picks

    Mark Zuckerberg promises you can trust him with superintelligent AI

    July 30, 2025

    TikTok videos are about to get crowdsourced fact checks on them

    July 30, 2025

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is stuck in a familiar orbit

    July 30, 2025

    EPA Employees Still in the Dark as Agency Dismantles Scientific Research Office

    July 30, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Gear

    The Nvidia RTX 5060 Can’t Quite Beat AMD

    By News RoomJuly 30, 2025

    For the RTX 5060, Nvidia only offered to send out the card if we agreed…

    This Star System Contains 5 Potentially Habitable Planets

    July 30, 2025

    Top Verizon Promo Codes and Deals for August 2025

    July 30, 2025

    Opera is filing a complaint over Microsoft’s tricks that push you to use Edge

    July 29, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.